Your inbox is overflowing with support requests, sales emails, and customer questions via WhatsApp. Your team is working past each other, nobody knows who picked up what, and important messages are being left behind. Helpwise offers a solution: one central dashboard where you manage email, chat, SMS, and WhatsApp with your entire team. But is it really as convenient as it sounds?
Who is behind Helpwise?
Helpwise was founded in 2016 by Gaurav Sharma in Palo Alto, United States. It started as an internal tool for SaaS Labs Inc., the parent company that also developed JustCall and CallRoot. The team had a simple problem: they needed to manage their own team emails for support, sales, and finance, but existing solutions were either too expensive or way too complicated for what they needed.
What started as an internal project grew into a full-fledged product. The tool turned out to be useful not only for their own team, but also for thousands of other companies struggling with the same problem. SaaS Labs raised a total of $ 74.2 million in funding from investors like Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia), Base10 Partners, and Eight Roads Ventures. That investment has clearly paid off.
Today, more than 5000 companies worldwide use Helpwise, with over 10,000 users in total. It has grown from a simple internal tool to a serious player in the shared inbox market. The focus on affordability and simplicity, which was the original idea, is still reflected in how the tool works.
Who is Helpwise for?
Helpwise primarily targets small to medium-sized teams that want to centralize their communication. Think of customer support departments that don’t want to constantly switch between Gmail, WhatsApp, and an SMS tool. Or sales teams that need to follow up on leads together without everyone emailing the same person.
It works well if you’re looking for a clear way to collaborate on customer communication without needing an IT department to set everything up. The tool has been intentionally kept simple, which is an advantage for teams that want to get started quickly.
But Helpwise isn’t for everyone. Large enterprises with strict on-premise requirements can’t use it here, because it’s a cloud-only solution. Teams that want to work entirely within the Gmail interface will probably not feel at home either. Helpwise has its own dashboard, which means you step out of your familiar Gmail environment.
What can Helpwise do?
Helpwise doesn’t try to be the most feature-rich tool, but focuses on the basics that work well. The 7-day free trial gives you access to all features, so you can test whether it fits your team. Here are the main capabilities:
- Shared Inbox for multiple channels: You can manage email, SMS, and WhatsApp all in one overview. No more jumping between apps. All messages come into the same dashboard, and your team immediately sees who’s handling what.
- Automation and rules: You can automatically assign messages to specific team members based on subject, sender, or keywords. Handy for ensuring urgent questions go directly to the right person.
- Live Chat Widget: You can place a chat widget on your website that connects directly to your Helpwise inbox. Visitors can ask questions and your team responds from the same dashboard where emails and WhatsApp messages also come in.
- Team collaboration: Internal notes and mentions make it easy to consult with colleagues without the customer seeing it. You can tag someone in a conversation and ask for help, or leave a note for the next person who picks up the conversation.
- Analytics and reporting: You get insight into response times, completed conversations, and the performance of individual team members. The reports are fairly basic according to users, but do show the most important numbers.
- Integrations: Helpwise connects with tools like Slack, HubSpot, and Shopify. For example, you can receive notifications in Slack when a new message comes in, or see customer data from HubSpot directly in the conversation.
The interface deliberately resembles Gmail, which lowers the learning curve. You have labels, filters, and an inbox structure that feels familiar. Users often mention this as a plus: you don’t have to train your team for weeks before they can work with it.
Mobile apps are available for iOS and Android, although according to reviews they are more limited than the web version. You can read and reply to messages on the go, but for more extensive work the desktop version is more convenient.
What does Helpwise cost?
Helpwise doesn’t have a free plan, but does offer a 7-day trial where you don’t need to enter a credit card. That gives you enough time to test whether it fits your team.
Prices are per user per month. The Standard plan costs $ 15 per month, or $ 12 if you pay annually. This gives you the basics: shared inbox for email, basic automation, and integrations. For most small teams, this is enough to get started.
The Premium plan costs $ 29 per month, or $ 23 with annual billing. Here you get additional features like more advanced automation, more integrations, and more extensive reporting. This plan is interesting if your team is growing and you want more control over workflows.
The Advanced plan costs $ 49 per month, or $ 39 per year. This is intended for larger teams that need even more automation, API access, and priority support. For most users, this is overkill unless you have really specific enterprise needs.
Compared to alternatives like Front, which quickly goes towards $ 50-$ 100 per user, Helpwise is a lot more affordable. That makes it attractive for teams with a limited budget who still want to communicate professionally.
What should you watch out for?
No tool is perfect, and Helpwise has its own frustrations. Users regularly complain about the mobile app. It’s not only limited in functionality, but also buggy. If you work on the go a lot and depend on your phone, this can be a problem. The web version works much more stable.
The search function also leaves something to be desired. Old emails are sometimes hard to find, and the search results aren’t always complete. If you often have to dig through old conversations, this can be annoying. You sometimes have to manually scroll through labels and folders to find what you’re looking for.
Performance is another point. Users report that the tool is occasionally slow and that you need to refresh the page to see new messages. That’s annoying if you need to respond quickly to customers. It doesn’t happen constantly, but often enough to mention it.
The reports are functional, but not great. If you want to do in-depth analysis or build nice dashboards for management, you’ll fall short here. You get the basics like response times and number of handled tickets, but not much more.
A technical detail: aliases sometimes count as separate inboxes, which can be confusing in your overview. If you use a lot of email aliases, you need to take this into account when setting up your workspace.
Helpwise alternatives
Helpwise isn’t the only player in this market. Depending on your budget and needs, there are other options that might be a better fit:
- Front: More expensive, but offers more advanced enterprise features. Choose Front if you have a larger budget and need deeper integrations with your CRM and other tools. The automation is more powerful and the analytics are more extensive.
- Hiver: Works directly within the Gmail interface instead of a separate dashboard. Choose Hiver if your team wants to stay working entirely within Gmail and doesn’t want to leave the familiar interface. It feels more like a Gmail extension than a separate tool.
- Help Scout: Similar features but with a stronger focus on simplicity and customer experience. Choose Help Scout if you’re looking for an established tool with a minimalist interface and a strong reputation in customer support circles.
Each of these alternatives has its own strengths. Helpwise is priced below Front, but above free tools. It’s a middle ground between affordability and functionality.
Frequently asked questions
Here are the questions that often come up with people considering Helpwise:
Is there a free trial available?
Yes, Helpwise offers a free 7-day trial that lets you test all features without a credit card. You get full access to all functionality, so you can properly assess whether it fits your team before you start paying.
Can I connect WhatsApp Business to Helpwise?
Yes, Helpwise supports integrations with WhatsApp Business through official partners like Twilio, allowing you to receive WhatsApp messages in the shared inbox. You can then manage WhatsApp conversations with your entire team from the same dashboard as your emails.
Does Helpwise have a mobile app?
Yes, mobile apps are available for both iOS and Android, so you have access to your shared inboxes on the go. However, you should know that users regularly complain about bugs and limited functionality in the mobile version compared to the web version.
Conclusion
Helpwise does what it promises: it gives teams a central place to manage email, chat, SMS, and WhatsApp without getting too complicated. The price is reasonable, the interface is clear, and the setup is quick. For small to medium-sized teams looking to professionalize their communication without bringing in an IT department, this is a solid choice.
But it’s not perfect. The mobile app is weak, the search function frustrating, and the reporting basic. If you have a team that works a lot on the go or needs in-depth analytics, you need to think carefully about whether this is the right tool. For teams that mainly work from desktop and need overview and collaboration, Helpwise offers enough to give it a try.
